


Day Five: "Take Me Instead"

by OBlossom



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alien Invasion, FebuWhump2021, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, IronDad and SpiderSon, Sassy Peter Parker, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:53:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29228016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OBlossom/pseuds/OBlossom
Summary: "Tony had to say it. The whole alien invasion thing was getting pretty stale.The Battle of New York had been devastating, and yeah, it had taken a load of couch time (and a load more suit modifications, thank you very much!) for him to be okay with going out into the city at night, but he’d done it and he was good now... really."
Relationships: Peter Parker & Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138958
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Day Five: "Take Me Instead"

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> -Colleen xo

Day 5: “take me instead”

Tony had to say it. The whole alien invasion thing was getting pretty stale.

The Battle of New York had been devastating, and yeah, it had taken a load of couch time (and a load more suit modifications, thank you very much!) for him to be okay with going out into the city at night, but he’d done it and he was good now... really.

But what he really needed was for these things to stop showing up every second Saturday, especially during his lab time with his favourite Spider-baby—because that, it seemed, caused its own separate set of issues.

“Hey, Iron Man! I’m here! Where do you want me?” Spider-Man chirped over the comms.

Yup, Spider-baby always knew when something was up—

“Boss, on your left!” FRIDAY warned and Tony immediately banked right, narrowly avoiding some purple alien laser beam-thing and the debris from the now damaged building.

—Not that Spider-Man could have missed this one. 

“Wow, Iron Man, did you see that? That was so cool and it was shooting and you were just—“ 

“SPIDER-MAN!” Tony yelled through the comms. “I’m amazing. I know, now get to work, ya’ scrub.”

“Ugh, was that a 90’s song reference? ‘Cuz I’m not sure Aunt May is okay with you corrupting my musical pallet. She’ll be put—”

Cap cut him off, “Chatter, gentlemen.” 

Spider-Man piped in, “Sorry about that Mr. Captain America, sir!”

“No sass, either, Spider-Man.”

“Got it, Captain!” Spider-Man swung along the perimeter of the battle, watchful and waiting for instruction. Tony liked that about the kid. He might not always think before he speaks, but he’d always defer to the team before jumping in blind during missions. He had this ‘thing’ about messing up, always played it safe if he’d missed the plan. Yup. Pete was smart like that. “Where would you like me to go?” he finally asked.

Sam had taken the aerial approach to the battlefield. “Kid, we’ve got some tourists with nothing but time and phones on their hands just south of Central Park. Feel like doing civilian duty today?”

Tony knew what that answer would be.

“You bet, Falcon!” Peter chirped. Spider-Man changed direction, started swinging towards Central Park, and then forgetting he was still on the comms, muttered, “Every. single. time.”

They pretended not to hear.

“Falcon, have you got eyes on a source yet?” Cap inquired.

“I’ve got nothing. No rooftops, no suspicious vehicles. Nothin.’ Nat? Any luck closer to the ground?”

Black Widow was on her bike, scouring the streets for anything—a spaceship, a hideout, anything—but she was striking out, too. Well, she was also striking out any stragglers she’d come across but that was semantics. “Sorry guys, but all I’m getting are the ones you keep letting through.” 

They worked quietly after that, dispatching alien after alien, all of them working like a well-oiled machine. They had just hit the ten minute mark and there was no sign of the influx letting up. 

“Guys!” Iron Man called out as he fired his repulsor at his twenty-third alien, “This is starting to get old. Do we have any thoughts on where these things are comin’ from?” He shot at his twenty-fourth. “’Cuz I think we’re missing something?”

“Agreed.” Cap replied. 

“Um, Guys?” Spider-Man suddenly crackled over the comms, “I think I’ve found something!”

“Report!” Cap barked out.

“There’s some clinic back here. I came over to make sure no one needed help evacuating, but the scan showed was empty. Now Karen is showing some weird readings and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

Tony chimed in then, “Pete? What do you mean by ‘weird?’—Actually, never mind. FRIDAY, contact Karen and show me what she’s got.”

His visual input doubled. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything too anomalous. But then... “Hey, Pete, I need you to fall back. I’m gonna head on over and Nat?” Tony directed his attention to her, “Nat, I need you to head over to Peter’s location.”

“What? Why?” came Peter’s response.

Nat’s came immediately after, “That’s a negative, gang. I’m—“ then the sound of her gun discharging once, twice, three times. “I’m a little busy right now.”

“Damn it. Okay, Cap,” Tony needed a new plan. “I’m going to head over to Peter’s location and take a look at this clinic.” He punched the alien in front of him, trying to clear the area of threats before launching, “Sam, I’m gonna get you to head over NOW. I can’t tell if we’re looking at a bomb or the cause of the portal we’ve been trying to track down or both... but—eurk“ 

“Tony?” Sam and Peter both called out.

They could hear the sound of struggle and Sam changed course to help his teammate. “I’m coming, Tony!” 

“NO!” Tony choked out, flipping over the alien that had climbed onto his back. “Get to the clinic. I’m just...” a repulsor blasted. “Caught up. Nat! Meet him!”

An immediate “Still busy!” put the kibosh on that idea.

“Hey! I’m already here and you know I can help!” Peter piped up.

Tony blasted another alien. “Absolutely not! You know the rules!” 

When the team had finally discovered that the mouth under the mask really was actually a 15 (and a HALF!) year old boy, a lot of rules, training, and more rules were implemented so Peter wouldn’t get hurt and rule #1 was:

“No biting off more than I can chew!” They could all hear the boy’s frustration. “But you know I can do this, Mr. Stark! I’m like super smart! And I haven’t seen a single alien!”

Everyone ignored him.

“Nat, ETA on completion of alien massacre?” Tony piped in.

“Mr. Stark! C’mon!”

Cap piped in, “Tony—we gotta wrap this up...”

Peter muttered, “This is ridiculous.” And then, apparently, his patience ran out. “Sam, where are you?”

“I’m twenty seconds out.”

“Sam, I’m here. Just... take me instead. I can do what Mr. Stark can and we don’t need to wait!” Peter insisted.

The comms stayed silent for a beat.

Sam asked, “Tony? Can he do it?”

Tony wanted to lie and keep the boy safe for another day, but he couldn’t. “Kid’s a genius, of course he can.” 

"Cap? Any issues with this scenario?"

"We need to wrap this up. I say go."

Sam seemed to consider, and then, “Fine.” 

“YAASSS! I won’t disappoint you, I promise.” 

Tony didn’t think the boy ever could. “Just be careful.” He fired his repulsor again, and again. “You’re not on the Avengers insurance plan... and your aunt will kill me if I return you damaged.”

“I will be!” the boy promised, “Sam, I have eyes on you. Can you see me?”

Sam sighed, “You know why they call me Falcon, right?” 

“’Cuz you can fly?”

Sam, it seemed, ignored the silliness and announced his arrival to the team, “Guys, I’ve rendezvoused with Spider-Baby and can see the clinic. We’re gonna head on in and evaluate—goin’ silent so we don’t have to listen to all you yahoos while we’re trying not to blow shit up.”

“Copy that, and you be careful, too,” Cap answered. 

* * * * * *

Tony tried to shake free of this sudden surge of aliens. He really did. The three of them were managing well enough, but he knew they were all worried about Peter and Tony really needed to be there. 

And then the world turned purple.

A witty quip was on the tip of Tony’s tongue when the cluster of aliens surrounding him—but still totally manageable, really!—collapsed to the ground and stilled.

“Um, guys? Is this just me or...” Tony started.

“Did all of your aliens drop dead, too?” Nat finished.

He could hear Cap’s grin through the comms, “They did it!”

“Guys, we need help here! I think Spidey is down but he’s trapped me and I can’t get to him!”

Tony blanched, but rocketed off to their last known location with a speed saved for terrorists and nuclear bombs. “FRIDAY, contact SHIELD. Send med evac to Peter’s location! Sam, tell me what happened!” Tony barked.

“So the clinic Peter found was actually abandoned and whoever did this set up this system—this jimmy-rig that Pete said was acting as a beacon. I guess he hadn’t gotten close enough before for Karen to recognize the reading as radiation correctly ‘cuz it’s outer space shit.”

Tony landed at the clinic. “Wait. Radiation?” FRIDAY immediately set to scan the area. Tony needed to be cool headed about this.

“Yeah,” Sam continued. “Pete said he could shut it down but then it scanned us and a countdown started, but not with real numbers, like alien stuff. He figured it was gonna blow but then looked at some wires and then did some messing around and then...”

Tony listened as Sam explained.

“He told me he thought he could disable it completely, but wasn’t sure about the timeline—alien numbers and all.”

“Okay?”

“So that sneaky little shit grabbed me and tossed me one of those lead rooms that they use in x-ray clinics and locked me in.” 

“He locked you in?”

“Yes! He locked me in. He muttered something about changing dispersal rates or something and slammed the door shut. I can’t see, but I think he put something in front of the door so I really couldn’t get out.”

“Scan complete.” Read across his visual input.

“Okay, Sam, I’m looking at my readings here.” Cap and Natasha came up beside him as he spoke, “There is definitely radiation happening, but it’s harmless out here.” He looked at his teammates as he said it. “I’m guessing you’re safe inside your little hidey-hole, but I’m gonna need to head in to get some more readings.”

“Tony.” Cap rested a hand on Iron Man’s arm to stop him.

“It’s okay, Steve,” He reassured his friend. “I’ve planned for this kind of situation and I’m built for it.” Tony replied, and knocked on his metal shell. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Tony walked toward the tiny clinic. 

“Sam, can you tell me where you are in the building? And where is Peter?” 

“We’re right next door to each other, man. Are you inside yet?”

“Yeah,” Tony kicked open the door and stepped through the broken front entry. “I’m in.”

“Perfect. The building should be empty, but be careful. Anyways, there’s a hallway that runs behind the reception desk. Take a left and then head all the way down. You’ll turn right there. I’m in the second room on the right, and Pete is in the third.”

“Nice and easy. Great.” Tony muttered and stepped behind the front desk. He checked the radiation levels as he moved. “On the plus side, readings in here aren’t too bad, Sam.   
We’re gonna be able to walk you through these halls no problem in a couple of minutes. Okay?”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know, buddy. Thanks.” Sam was quiet and then, “Have you found Peter yet?”

Tony turned down the last hallway to the right. “I’m about to see—and you’re right, he put two medical file cabinets in front of the door. No way are you getting out of there on your own.” He huffed a laugh as he rapped his fingers on the heavy metal. “This is why offices should go e-filing.” 

“Don’t be a smart ass.” Sam retorted. “Just find the boy. I don’t like it when he’s quiet.”

“Agreed,” Natasha added. “FYI, just got word, SHIELD medical will be arriving in 15 minutes. Apparently the dead aliens are cooler than our Avenger in training and they got distracted... those idiots.”

“Got it.” Tony scaled the cabinets and dropped to the other side and came face to face with a closed door.

He turned the door handle and pushed it open, paying attention to the radiation levels being detected. Levels in there were definitely higher than even the other side of the filing cabinets, but still within manageable levels. “Guys, I’m at Pete’s last known location, and numbers are still looking alright.” 

He stepped inside and saw the now inert alien device Sam had spoken of. “Wow!” Tony was distracted by FRIDAY’s analysis and his own observations. “Guys, this could have been really ugly.” He shook his head in disbelief. “If I’m looking at what I think I am, this was bio-tech related, which is why you guys getting close set it off.” He was impressed. “And you just entered the room?”

“Yeah,” Sam answered. “It scanned us with a beam of light and that was it. Now where the hell is Peter?”

Tony was horrified with himself for getting caught up in the tech, “Shit!” He looked around the room, under the one desk in the corner. Nothing. “Guys? Um, Peter’s not here!”

“What do you mean, Peter’s not here?” Steve snapped. “Tony is it safe for us to enter the building? Are the levels safe enough?”

He looked again, “Yes, we just need to be fast. It’s dispersing but too long may not be great for you guys—especially you, Nat.”

“I’ll worry about me, thank you very much. You worry about finding Peter. We’re on our way in.” 

He did worry. He worried while he double checked behind the desk, and the air vents, just in case. He worried as he rushed to the next room over, only to find that one empty, too.

He stepped back into the hallway as Steve entered the hallway on the other side of the cabinets. 

“Any luck?” Steve asked.

“No! He’s not here!” Tony was starting to panic. “Sam said he went back into the room and then...” Tony’s heart sank. He rushed back into the room and started analyzing the alien device, more determined to understand what it did.

“Steve- get Sam out of the room, now! I need him to explain exactly what Peter said and did!”

Steve turned and within seconds, the grinding of those ridiculous metal cabinets was echoing through the building.

Sam appeared seconds after the grinding stopped, Steve and Natasha behind him.

Sam got to it immediately. “Okay, he said it was a beacon. That’s how the aliens keep finding us. It did its countdown thing, and that was it.” Sam knew Tony wasn’t looking for anything but the facts now. “I told you all I remember about it.”

Tony glared at the contraption. 

Sam stepped forward. “Wait a minute. When it lit up, it was white light here,” he pointed to a panel, “and green here.” He pointed again. “The countdown was around here,” he circled an area toward the top of the side facing him. “And he looked like he wanted to play over here.” He pointed to the side furthest to them. “The beam came from here.” He showed Tony where a lens peeked out of the wiring and metal. “And THAT is all I got.” Sam stepped back again.

“But...” Tony started and then stopped himself.

“But what?” Steve questioned.

“What if Peter was wrong.” Tony whispered.

Natasha heard him. “What do you mean?”

Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away from the device. “What if this is actually some sort of porthole generator and I was right? We haven’t found any spaceships yet, right? What if whatever he did set it off and Peter is gone—like ‘not on the planet’ gone?”

Natasha scoffed, “You don’t give that boy enough credit.” She scolded. “I know you’re worried, but you need to be reasonable. He’s around here somewhere.”

And then they heard it.

“help...”

They all stopped. 

“Pete?” Tony called out.

The sound of flesh banging against metal. “in here...”

He sounded weak.

“Peter?” They moved to the hallway, trying to track the sound.

Another bang.

And then another—coming from one of the filing cabinet drawers!

“Pete!” Tony rushed forward and opened the bottom drawer to the cabinet closest. Empty! He lunged for the second cabinet, he had to be... 

“Here!” Tony called as he struggle with the awkward weight of the drawer. Peter was there and he was whole.

“FRIDAY, scan him! And forward all info to Dr. Cho at the tower!” He reached down and carefully extracted the boy from his hiding place. “If you think, for one second I’m letting those asshole SHIELD agents touch my kid, they’ve got another thing coming to them.”

No one disagreed, not that it mattered to Tony. They could deal with the dead aliens. 

And Tony?

Well?

The whole alien invasion thing... most definitely getting stale.

**Author's Note:**

> The anxiety attached to actually posting is rather terrifying, so you know.
> 
> Day five, done. :)


End file.
